Monrovia carrot
| Monrovia carrot | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Callopanchax monroviae | ||||||||||||
| ( Roloff & Ladiges , 1972) |
The Monrovia Killie ( callopanchax monroviae ) is a West African representative of killifish . The colorful animals are well-known aquarium fish , but due to their demands (see reproduction ) and short life expectancy, they are rarely kept. The specific epithet refers to Monrovia , the capital of Liberia .
Occurrence
The species occurs in West Africa and there mainly in the area of southern Sierra Leone . Above all, it colonizes small and very small pools of water and swamps, which can also dry out with the seasons.
Appearance
The body shape is stretched club-shaped with an upper mouth. In captivity, the males reach a total length of up to eight centimeters, while the females remain slightly smaller. The basic color can vary depending on the local form, from orange-red to blue-violet. Especially in the dorsal area the body is covered with bright red dots. The dorsal and anal fin are band-shaped, the caudal fin is elongated to spatulate. All fins have red bands. The males in particular are very colorful, while the females are much less contrasting.
Way of life
The animals live individually or in loose groups in herbaceous shallow water areas, where they feed on smaller invertebrates and insects that have fallen into the water. The intraspecific aggressiveness is particularly pronounced in the males.
Reproduction
The Monrovia fish is a seasonal fish . In order to adapt to the habitats that regularly dry out, the eggs are laid in the muddy ground where they go through a resting phase during the dry phase. If the water is replenished in the rainy season , the fry hatch after a short time and become sexually mature after eight to ten weeks.
literature
- Rüdiger Riehl , Hans A. Baensch : Aquariums Atlas. Volume 3, 6th edition, Mergus Verlag, Melle 2004, ISBN 978-3-88244-114-7 .
- Lothar Seegers: Killifische - egg-laying toothcarps in the aquarium. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 978-3-80017-055-5 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Werner Neumann: Callopanchax monroviae. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 191.
Web links
- Monrovia carrot on Fishbase.org (English)
- Callopanchax monroviae inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Lalèyè, P., 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2014.